Saturday, September 20, 2014

Merely three months after The World Bank and former U.S. treasury secretary Henry Paulson presented plans that show how we can address climate problems while prospering economically, the IMF and the New Climate Economy project1 have come up with very similar ideas!

The International Monetary Fund's idea is that putting a price on CO2 emissions would actually enhance economic growth. The IMF shows it has done the math in a working paper2.

Recommendations 1 to 6 define the necessary conditions for better, low-carbon, climate-resilient investment and growth; recommendations 7 to 10 focus on the potential for sectoral change which drives future growth and lower climate risk, specifically in urban, land use and energy systems.

There you have it. Just as world leaders gather in NYC for a crucial UNO climate meeting, and thousands plan to march, we have compelling evidence that we can not only survive but prosper as well.

As Paul Krugman snidely puts it in his New York Times piece: "if you think that an economy getting a lot of its power from wind farms and solar panels is a hippie fantasy, you’re the one out of touch with reality."

by Daniel B. O'Leary, Montreal, 20 Sept., 2014

Global Commission on the Economy and Climate - New Climate Economy project

Ian Parry, Chandara Veung and Dirk Heine, How Much Carbon Pricing is in Countries’ Own Interests? The Critical Role of Co-Benefits, IMF Fiscal Affairs Department Working Paper WP/14/174

Paul Krugman, Errors and Emissions, Could Fighting Global Warming Be Cheap and Free? New York Times, SEPT. 18, 2014